Η συνταγή και στα ελληνικά στο τέλος της ανάρτησης.
Corfu is a beautiful Greek island situated in the north western part of Greece close to Albania. At its west lies the Adriatic Sea and at its east the Ionian Sea. Corfu is laden with battles and conquests and castles can be found in several key places across the island. The capital of the island is surrounded by two of such castles and it is the only city in Greece to be like this even today.
From medieval times and into the 17th century, the island played a major role in the containment of the Ottoman Empire from Europeans and became one of the most fortified places in Europe. The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the Adriatic. The island fell under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars. Corfu was eventually returned to Greece by the British Empire along with the remaining islands of the United States of the Ionian Islands, in 1864 under the Treaty of London.
Corfu kitchen is very rich in flavors with influences from Italy and the Venetians. Pastitsada a traditional dish of Corfu came with the Venetians and its story goes like this. In Venice this dish was called Pastissada de caval made with corned horse meat in the area of Verona. Myth says that when warriors from Lombard were trying to invade Verona in 6th century, hungry citizens were stealing the dead horses from battlefields. They preserved their meat in barrels full of red wine and cooked them with lots of spices to cover the intensity of meat’s flavor. (Source, Protagon.gr)
Today in Veneto they make it with beef and they serve it over polenta. The original recipe doesn’t contain tomato as this vegetable was unknown at that time. The dark red color is because of the wine and spices. In Corfu they serve it over bucattoni. My son has difficulty maneuvering this pasta, so I accompanied it with Chilopites (traditional Greek pasta like lasagna) with saffron.
This dish has a very rich and intense flavor, not only because of the wine, but also because of the spices. I used sweet red wine but you can use any type of wine you like. Also I used red wine vinegar, but I assume it would be perfect with balsamic as well. I made it in the slow cooker, but you can make it in the pot or in the pressure cooker as well. Also, another one change I made was to add Lentinula Edodes mushrooms, which are the very well-known to everyone Shiitake. This is a family meal packed with flavors and aromas and you can serve it with pasta, rice, polenta, mashed potatoes or boiled vegetables if you prefer to avoid carbohydrates.
- 1 kilo / 2 lb. beef cut in cubes
- 200 gr. / 7 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups sweet red wine
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 onions, thickly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Salt, pepper
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp all spice
- 3 bay leaves
- ½ tsp sweet paprika
- 300 gr. / 11 oz. chilopites or any other pasta, rice or potatoes
- In a nonstick skillet sauté the beef from all sites.
- Remove and put aside.
- In the same skillet pour couple of tbsp of olive oil and sauté the onion, the mushrooms and garlic for about 3 minutes.
- Return the beef in the skillet add the spices and herbs and the wine and vinegar.
- Boil in high for five minutes.
- If you are using your slow cooker, put everything in there and program it to high for six hours.
- If you are using your stove, lower the heat to low and let it boil until the meat becomes tender.
- I would say no less than three to four hours.
- If you are using your pressure cooker, put everything in there bring to boil, cover with the lid and follow your manufacturer’s instructions.
- I would say a total time of two hours in pressure cooker would make it very soft.
- When cooking time is over and the sauce is somewhat runny you can thicken it with a couple of tbsp. of corn starch dissolved in 2 tbsp of water.
- Serve over pasta.
- 1 κιλό μοσχάρι κομμένο σε κύβους
- 200 γρ. μανιτάρια shiitake, κομμένα σε φέτες
- 2 φλ. γλυκό κόκκινο κρασί
- ¼ φλ. Ξίδι από κόκκινο κρασί
- 2 κρεμμύδια, χοντροκομμένα
- 4 σκελίδες σκόρδο, λιωμένες
- 1 κ.σ. ζάχαρη
- Αλάτι, πιπέρι
- ½ κ.γ. κανέλα
- ½ κ.γ. μοσχοκάρυδο
- ½ κ.γ. κύμινο
- ¼ κ.γ. γαρύφαλλα
- ¼ κ.γ. κάθε μπαχαρικό
- 3 φύλλα δάφνης
- ½ κ.γ. πάπρικα γλυκιά
- 300 γρ. Χυλοπίτες ή χοντρό μακαρόνι
- Σε ένα αντικολλητικό τηγάνι σοτάρετε το μοσχάρι από όλες τις πλευρές.
- Αφαιρέστε και βάλτε το στην άκρη.
- Στην ίδια κατσαρόλα ρίξτε δύο κουταλιές της σούπας ελαιόλαδο και σοτάρετε το κρεμμύδι, τα μανιτάρια και το σκόρδο για περίπου 3 λεπτά.
- Επιστρέψτε το μοσχάρι στην κατσαρόλα, προσθέστε τα μπαχαρικά, τα βότανα και το κρασί και το ξίδι.
- Βράστε σε ψηλή θερμοκρασία για πέντε λεπτά.
- Αν χρησιμοποιείτε slow cooker, βάλτε τα πάντα εκεί και επιλέξτε το πρόγραμμα high και ψήστε για έξι ώρες.
- Εάν χρησιμοποιείτε την κουζίνα σας, χαμηλώστε τη φωτιά και αφήστε να βράσει μέχρι να μαλακώσει το κρέας.
- Θα έλεγα ότι δεν θα είναι λιγότερο από τρεις έως τέσσερις ώρες.
- Εάν χρησιμοποιείτε χύτρα, βάλτε τα πάντα εκεί βράστε, καλύψτε με το καπάκι και ακολουθήστε τις οδηγίες του κατασκευαστή σας.
- Ο συνολικός χρόνος σε χύτρα πρέπει να είναι περίπου 2 ώρες.
- Όταν ο χρόνος μαγειρέματος έχει τελειώσει και η σάλτσα είναι κάπως αραιή μπορείτε να τη δέσετε με 2 κουταλιές κορν φλάουερ διαλυμένο σε 2 κουταλιές της σούπας νερό.
- Σερβίρετε πάνω από τις χυλοπίτες.
